Utility of measuring (1,3)-β-d-glucan in cerebrospinal fluid for diagnosis of fungal central nervous system infection

Jennifer L Lyons; Kiran T Thakur; Rick Lee; Tonya Watkins; Carlos A Pardo; Kathryn A Carson; Barbara Markley; Malcolm A Finkelman; Kieren A Marr; Karen L Roos; Sean X Zhang

doi:10.1128/JCM.02301-14

Utility of measuring (1,3)-β-d-glucan in cerebrospinal fluid for diagnosis of fungal central nervous system infection

J Clin Microbiol. 2015 Jan;53(1):319-22. doi: 10.1128/JCM.02301-14. Epub 2014 Nov 5.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Neurological Infections, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
² Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
³ Microbiology Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁴ Division of Medical Microbiology, Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁶ Associates of Cape Cod, Inc., Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA.
⁷ Division of Infectious Disease, Departments of Medicine and Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁸ Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
⁹ Microbiology Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA Division of Medical Microbiology, Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA szhang28@jhmi.edu.

Abstract

(1-3)-β-d-Glucan (BDG) from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a promising marker for diagnostic and prognostic aid of central nervous system (CNS) fungal infection, but its relationship to serum values has not been studied. Herein, we detected BDG from CSF at levels 2-fold lower than those in serum in patients without evidence of fungal disease but 25-fold higher than those in in serum in noncryptococcal CNS fungal infections. CSF BDG may be a useful biomarker in the evaluation of fungal CNS disease.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biomarkers / cerebrospinal fluid*
Central Nervous System Fungal Infections / cerebrospinal fluid*
Central Nervous System Fungal Infections / diagnosis*
Central Nervous System Fungal Infections / epidemiology*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Proteoglycans
Young Adult
beta-Glucans / cerebrospinal fluid*

Substances

Biomarkers
Proteoglycans
beta-Glucans
polysaccharide-K

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding